He was flying his helicopter to land directly on the Croisette this Wednesday. Tom Cruise likes when it goes “Vroom! Vroom! In Cannes, his arrival unleashed the paparazzi and made onlookers rush. The actor, producer, American daredevil who arrives in a gale was the highlight of the day. He accompanied Top Gun: Maverick by Joseph Kosinski, sequel to the popular franchise started 36 years earlier under the direction of Tony Scott. As a pilot, Cruise has never left the controls, it retains an audience. “I learned to keep a dialogue with the public, he says. Having several generations not to disappoint, I always try to do better. ” This Top Gun didn’t impress here too much, but Cruise previews it on the red carpet.
Nearly 1,000 people gathered in the Debussy room to follow his master class, with questions from the debate leader Didier Allouch. The eternal seducer of these ladies, the Scientologist, the ex of Nicole Kidman is not the cup of tea of all the planet cinephile. However, he has been jumping from one set to another since the age of 19, between art works and action films. The saga Top Gun Although it sticks to his side, an imposing filmography also enhances his roadmap.
When an actor shot in Rain Man by Barry Levinson, Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson, jerry maguire by Cameron Crowe, Eyes Wide Shut of Stanley Kubrick and other nuggets, he earned his stripes. This does not prevent him from being swallowed up by the commercial aspects of his career. “Voices oppose certain films I make, but I’m thinking of the audience,” he says as an accomplished businessman.
Cinema, his “passion”
This does not prevent Cruise from flying to the aid of the big screen at a time when theaters are tottering and receiving applause from the audience as a champion of the cause: “I make films for the big screen, recalls he. Shoot directly for platforms, never! Going to the cinema means sharing an experience beyond every language and every culture. I love seeing movies in theaters when they come out, watching the trailers, and watching the audience move in and eat popcorn. Making a film for the cinema is a different experience from TV production. Cinema is my passion. »
He exudes a kind of simplicity mixed with pride, displays a taste for the profession learned on the job. From its beginnings in Taps of Harold Becker, he inundated filmmakers, scriptwriters, technicians with questions. What types of lenses to use? What lights? What decorations? No question that the slightest aspect of the image machine escapes him! He wants to be at the wheel and the mill, to produce, to play, to work in a team, to move.
It fascinates people to watch Cruise perform his own stunts. So the danger of jumping into the void does not scare him? “Yes, I’m afraid, he replies, but do we ask Gene Kelly why he sang and danced in his films? At four and a half, I jumped from the roof of my house with a parachute pulled from my sheets. As a child, he dreamed of traveling the world discovering new cultures and got down to it. The actor specifies fueling curiosity, burning with love for the films of Keaton, Chaplin, biting into the history of cinema. “But I also learned a lot with action productions like Impossible mission, saying, “I’ll do them for you, the stunts!” I love people, adventures and I love life. His characters inspire him with their breaths and their gestures. He feels part of a whole.
His advice to the next generation: undertake everything, even if it means making mistakes, without fearing the ridicule of asking trivial questions for the interlocutor. Go for it, it’s all there! If he shows regret, Tom Cruise will say nothing about it. He dreams of making movies until his last breath. All kinds of cinema!
Odile Tremblay is the guest of the Cannes Film Festival.